Return
by EmeraldFire512
Summary: When Percy returned to his life after 8 months away, he also returned to the ones he loved. Or, since there were no reunions in the ending of the last book, I'm going to write them myself. Spoilers for Blood of Olympus (obviously).


**So I read **_**Blood of Olympus**_**. I loved it, and I'm glad that we finally know the ending, but there are things I wanted, that we didn't get. Like Percy being reunited with everyone after disappearing and being gone for 8 months. And I need that. So I wrote it. This will be a few chapters (6 is the plan right now), and this is the first one. I love Grover, and especially his friendship with Percy. Hence, this chapter. **

**This should go without saying, but MAJOR **_**Blood of Olympus **_**spoilers. Also, I don't own it.**

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**Chapter 1 – Percy and Grover**

Percy sank onto the ground with a weary sigh. The battle had finally ended mere hours ago, and he had spent the entirety of the time since locating the dead and the wounded and making sure each one was taken care of. The destruction was over whelming. There had been so much death and bloodshed that it almost made him sick. He was weary and exhausted.

Yet in spite of it all, he couldn't help but feel relieved. They had beaten Gaea. The camps were safe. He was back at Camp Half-Blood. He and Annabeth were both alive. He looked around him at the once familiar setting. Even shrouded in smoke and the telltale destruction of a battle, the camp was still beautiful. The pavilion in which they ate was filled with survivors, Romans and Greeks alike, finally getting their much-needed sustenance. The docks by the canoe lake gleamed in the sunshine, and Percy's mind wandered back to a happier day, not too long ago when Clarisse had thrown him and Annabeth in the lake, and the underwater kiss that ensued. At least he knew for certain that he was glad to be back.

A pair of arms suddenly wrapping around him abruptly interrupted his survey of the camp. After taking a moment to calm his battle reflexes to keep from slicing into the unknown new comer with Riptide he began to turn around to identify his attacker when a water bleat made such an investigation unnecessary. With a grin he turned his body so he was facing his best friend.

Their time apart had brought a big change in his friend. His horns now stood taller than his curly hair, and his Green Peace t-shirt betrayed the presence of new muscles. He was almost as tall as Percy now too. Some things hadn't changed Percy noted as he took in the appearance of his friend and the tears rolling down his face.

"Perce!" Grover bleated through his sobs, "I've missed you so much! I was so worried when you went missing, and then relieved when there was word from Annabeth that she had found you, and then worried again when you both fell into Tartarus! You have to be more careful, because I don't know what I would do if I lost you, and I am a just so glad that you're okay!"

Percy couldn't help but laugh, but he put his own arms around the Satyr and returned the hug. "I missed you too G-man. What's been going on since I've been gone? How are things on the council? How's Juniper? Have you seen my Mom?"

"Things on the council are a bit hectic with Gaea rising and all, Juniper's fine – she'll be happy to see you too, and yes, I visited your mother several times while you were away. She was understandably worried and upset when you disappeared, relieved when she heard you were alive, and then worried again because you went on another quest and ended up in the worst imaginable situation _again_. Though, I'm pretty sure this one tops all of the other ones. But Percy," Grover stopped and pulled away from to fully look his friend over. He took in the bloodstains on his shirt, the hair that fell in his eyes after not being touched for almost a year, and the new scars that decorated his body. He zeroed in on his friend's weary eyes before speaking again, "what about you? You're the one who has been missing for 8 months, and who…" here, Grover faltered. There was a tense silence between the two friends for a few moments before Percy finally spoke, "fell into Tartarus."

Grover gulped and nodded.

Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Grover watched him briefly before suggesting that they go somewhere less crowded. The two friends wandered down to the canoe lake and sat on the dock. Percy gave a small smile as the naiads clustered around the dock to greet him. He waved at them all, but at a pointed look from Grover, they took off and returned the depths of the lake. Once the two friends were alone again, Grover looked back towards Percy. He wanted to wait for his friend to say something, but he was fairly certain it would be awhile before that happened. He could sense the unease rolling off of Percy, the pain of the memories he held, and – for some reason – guilt. Clearly, he demigod friend was not going to be speaking anytime soon, leaving it to Grover to break the silence.

"I sometimes got flashes, on the empathy link"

Percy turned so he was facing the satyr. He studied him for a moment before asking cautiously, "what kind of flashes."

"Anger, fear, pain," Grover responded, watching his friend watch a bug skate across the surface of the pond, determine to avoid the satyr's gaze. "Mostly pain," he added as an after thought.

Percy sighed and looked back up at his friend. Now Grover was sure he wasn't imagining it – the amount of guilt rolling off of Percy was almost overwhelming.

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to feel that."

Grover gaped at his friend, not even caring that his mouth was hanging open and resisted the urge to look around and find something to throw at the idiot. "Sorry," he finally managed to get out, "why would you be _sorry_?"

"Because you experienced those things because of your connection with me, and you shouldn't have."

Grover didn't even bother looking for an object to throw and settled for his own hand, which he used to smack Percy on the back of his head. Ignoring the yelp that came from the contact he continued on, his voice thick with incredulity, "Are you being serious right now Perce? I can't tell if you're being serious. Has your sarcasm gotten better?"

"Of course I'm being serious! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Most sane people, not that you'd know anything about that Percy Jackson, would not be apologizing for surviving a kidnapping, amnesia, Tartarus, and another dam war!"

Percy looked at him in bewilderment, "I'm not apologizing for that! I'm apologizing for you getting the residual effects!"

"And I'm telling you I don't care!" by the time Grover finished, he was shouting. The soft rustle around them told him that he had started the dryads but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was too focused on the idiot that he called his best friend. Noticing that said best friend was still wearing an expression of evident confusion now mixed with a hint of shock, Grover forced himself to take a deep breath. He hadn't seen the idiot in nearly a year and had spent a good portion of that time thinking he might be dead. There was no way he was about to let their first conversation turning into a shouting match.

"Percy," he continued in a much calmer tone, "I didn't care because it let me know that you were alive. For the entirety of the first few months that you were missing, I couldn't feel a thing. That, combined with the fact that no one on the face of the earth seemed to have seen you, led me to fear the worst."

Realization was finally dawning on the idiot's face. And, to his disgruntlement, Grover could feel his eyes welling up again.

"I thought you were dead Percy. Thinking that my best friend was dead was one of the worst things ever. Finally being able to sense you, and eventually reach you was an incredible relief. After that point, any contact was good contact because it meant you were still alive."

There were a few beats of silence before either of them spoke. The sounds of the two camps intermingling wafted through the air, providing the other sound other than the lapping of the lake onto the shore.

A sound that had grown louder, Grover noticed, as the water responded to Percy's unrest.

The silence was eventually broken by Percy, so seemed to have finally compiled his thoughts in a coherent manner.

"I understand what you're saying Grover. I know I would feel the same way if the tables had been turned – hades, I felt that way when you went missing in the Sea of Monsters and we had only known each other for a year then. And if those feelings gave you hope, I can't fault that, just as much as I can't be mad at you because you kept up hope. I am still sorry that you had to experience any part of that, and I'm not taking that back."

There was more to this. It may have been a while, but Percy was still his best friend. He knew he as well as he knew himself. He waited patiently for the demigod to continue. There wasn't a long wait before Percy spoke again.

"What I've been through…what I've seen…what _you've _felt, Grover…" here, Percy trailed off, "nobody should have to go through any of that. It's bad enough that Annabeth had to deal with it all because of me, I didn't want you to have to experience any part of it either, so I'm sorry."

Grover rolled his eyes. This sealed it – Percy hadn't changed too much while he was gone. He was still an idiot.

"You idiot."

Percy looked sharply up to him, confusion evident in his green eyes.

"It's not your fault that the two of you fell into Tartarus. None of this mess is your fault Perce!"

And then Grover had a thought,

"Actually, no. I take that back. You know what is your fault?"

Percy looked at him again, his expression braced, waiting for the worst.

"It's your dam fault that we're all still alive! That's what you've done – you've saved every one _again_. Perce, you didn't ask to be involved in this. You didn't to be taken, you didn't ask for amnesia, you didn't ask to go on two quests, and you certainly didn't ask to end up in Tartarus. But that all happened and you still did your best to save everyone, like you always do."

"I didn't save everyone," Percy responded softly, looking back towards the remnants of the battlefield.

Grover followed his gaze, "No," he agreed, "you didn't. But that's not your fault either." Grover reached on of his hands out to his friend's shoulder, forcing Percy to look in his eyes.

"And Leo wasn't your fault either." He added softly. He noted the tears that were starting to fall down Percy's face. He could feel them on his own face as well. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his friend again. He could feel Percy's body shaking as he quietly sobbed into the satyr's shoulder. He found himself crying again, but also found that he didn't care. They had all been through hell (some more literally than others) and dam it all if they weren't going to take the time to be upset about it.

Eventually, the tears stopped. Grover and Percy pulled away from each other, neither of them quite sure how to proceed after that incident. It occurred to Grover suddenly that after all the time he had known Percy, he had never seen him cry. But, he reflected, if there was ever a time for that to change, now would be it. He looked over at his friend, sitting on the edge of the dock furiously wiping his eyes, and at the wet spot on his t-shirt from Grover's tears.

"I guess your powers don't extend to tears extend as far as keeping satyr tears off your clothes," he said, breaking the silence and gesturing towards Percy's damp sleeve. Percy's gaze followed Grover's gesture and landed on the area in question. He let out a watery chuckle, "'Course not, that would be too much power for any one person to have. Hurricanes? Sure! Lightening storms? Why not! Immunity to satyr tears? Impossible."

Grover laughed and Percy smiled. After a few moments Grover's laughter died and he looked back towards he friend.

"Perce?"

"Yeah G-man?"

"I'm glad you're alive."

"Me too."

"You know that eventually, things will get back to normal, right?"

Percy sighed, "Yeah, I do know. I just hope that maybe things can stay like this," he gestured back towards the main camp, where the Greeks and the Romans were working side by side in an effort to clean up the battlefield, "for a while. I've had enough adventure to last me a lifetime."

Grover snorted, "_Please_. You'll be bored after 3 months."

Percy gave a wry smile, "Maybe. Probably. I mean, I guess I wouldn't mind a quest now and again. But, no more wars, that's all I ask."

"You have my full support on that one."

They sat in silence, backs to the water, watching the two camps work in harmony. They stayed there until a blond boy appeared.

"There you two are! I've been looking all over for you."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "At what point did realize that you should probably look for the Son of Poseidon by water Grace?" he asked dryly, gesturing to the lake behind the two friends.

Jason scowled, "Shut it Jackson. There are more people here today than I think I've seen in the past 3 months. It's a little overwhelming. But that's not the point. I was looking for you guys to tell you that you should get cleaned up because Chiron announced that there will be a feast to celebrate tonight."

Percy got to his feet and held out his hand to the satyr, "Ready to go celebrate G-man?"

Grover took the offered hand and grinned, "More than ready."

Because, after all, there was a lot worth celebrating.

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**A/N: Well, that's all folks. Let me know what you think! And if you have any characters you would like to see, let me know that too. Chiron's up next, and since most of it is already written, it hopefully wont be too long. **


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